FOUR YEARS AFTER: Fukushima cleanup takes step forward on 4th anniversary of first explosion

March 12 marked the fourth anniversary of the first hydrogen explosion at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, a terrifying moment in Japan’s worst nuclear disaster.

Four years later, work started to transport soil and other debris contaminated by the radioactive substances to intermediate storage facilities near the stricken nuclear plant.

“It is a major step forward for Fukushima’s recovery, and we will make a renewed commitment to proceeding with the construction of the storage facilities while fulfilling our responsibility to fully explain the situation to local authorities,” Environment Minister Yoshio Mochizuki said March 13.

A day after the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami knocked out power at the plant, the explosion rocked the No. 1 reactor building, followed by two other explosions at the No. 3 and No. 4 reactor buildings. Meltdowns occurred at the No. 1, 2 and 3 reactors, causing the plant to spew radioactive substances over the surrounding areas.

The damaged reactor buildings, a large number of tanks storing contaminated water and other structures at the plant were brightly lit up on the night of March 12 as Tokyo Electric Power Co., the plant’s operator, continued its decommissioning work.

A luminous line of the Joban Expressway was also visible from a hill in the town of Tomioka near the plant. The final stretch of the expressway, which runs past the nuclear plant, was completed on March 1.

The Environment Ministry has kicked off an experimental project to study the safety of transporting a large amount of contaminated materials. It plans to bring radioactive debris from 43 municipalities across Fukushima Prefecture to the intermediate storage sites over a year.

The total amount of contaminated soil and materials will be 22 million cubic meters, and they will be stored at the intermediate facilities for a maximum 30 years, ministry officials said.